Simple Syndication (RSS) -- Wheres The Payoff?

How RSS really does pay off...

Have you heard of RSS (Really Simple Syndication)? Did you know you can syndicate your news stories from your website? You probably have seen some orange buttons around the web with the letters "RSS" on them. They allow other websites to link to your news stories with just a click. Simple. Syndicate.

Ok. Now, you know about Really Simple Syndication... but where's the payoff? Let's look at the ways that RSS can pay off for you. And, pay off, it does -- when you use this emerging technology effectively.Now by "emerging technology," we mean it is relatively new, and people are still learning about it. But already many savvy webmasters are "aggregating" RSS feeds -- pulling common topic feeds together at their websites. And, big players like Yahoo, and Amazon are offering up RSS solutions. You can "subscribe" to a selection of news feeds on your personalized home page at Yahoo, for example.

Feed me... feed me...

There's even a search engine just for RSS feeds, called Feedster.com, that currently returns over 4,645,164 feeds indexed and fully searchable. Last August, there were only a quarter of a million feeds. Feedster reports that around 5,000 new feeds are being added... per day. Someone's hungry. And this hunger for feeds is being fed by millions of "blog" websites that use automated "Content Management Systems" to turn out their RSS news feeds. At Feedster.com, you can simply search through millions of them, or you may "subscribe" there to the feeds of your choice, creating a sort of customized electronic newspaper for yourself.

Looks like RSS is here to stay, so what does a "pay off" from RSS mean? Will it mean increased traffic to your website? Yes. Could it mean an increase in sales of your services or products? Yes, but probably not as immediately as direct advertising would. What about P.R. value? Yes... most definitely.

Traffic Boost: It's key to understand that when your stories are well-written and of interest (two major considerations -- write professionally for your best success), people will subscribe to your RSS "feeds." They will want to read them. Next, when they like your story, and its focus, they will naturally be curious to learn more. Include links to your site in your news. From this you can boost the traffic to your site. This is a sort of new generation of what was known as "reciprocal linking" where, in its simplest form, you got more traffic to your site by exchanging links with other websites covering similar material. Now instead of a link... you provide full articles which may reference your products, services, websites, and perhaps those of your clients.

Public Relations Value -- the P.R. Factor: Does your firm have a Public Relations strategy? It should. Does it include RSS? It must. You see Public Relations professionals are already talking about RSS in glowing terms like how it is "providing additional channels to amplify supportive messaging." Hey... translated this means any word you can get out on the street makes your business and its market offerings stronger and much better known. What's that worth to you? Advertising execs are talking about how this can help boost "brand loyalty". Huh? Hey, if you're in business, your company identity gets branded (or not, unfortunately) into the minds of customers and prospects. A good brand wins loyal customers. RSS news feeds, done properly, do precisely this for your company. And one more thing... RSS installed on your site automates a process that can cost quite a lot done manually by a big P.R. Agency. Shsssss.

So where are the sales? The formula is simple: the more your company and its offerings becomes known and favored by customers and prospects alike, they more sales will result. How many sales? To take a shot at a preliminary answer, I did searched for it using... you guessed it... a search of RSS feeds about advertising results. I'll end this article with an overview of articles reporting on those results, but please be clear about one thing -- people want NEWS in their RSS feeds -- news they can use. Advertising is secondary, and many sites are reporting the rejection of blatant and direct ads. Remember, banner ads are dead. "Product placement" (like when you see an Apple computer in a movie) -- mentioning of related products and services in news, blogs, and RSS feeds is not dead. It's working.

Initial RSS Marketing Results... proceed with caution Here are a couple of links to articles that have studied the results of RSS, and ads in RSS feeds:

1. RSS Advertising Case Study. Overview. Pheedo reports that by integrating online advertising into an RSS feed, a new online advertising technique, it has achieved measurably better results than e-mail for its client. Read More at: http://www.pheedo.info/archives/000057.html

2. Blocking of Ads in RSS feeds already envisioned. Of course. People want news to be news. They might put up with informative links, but not blatant, outright, defiant, in-your-face advertising. You can read a blog of comments on this issue at Kottke.org

What are you serving?

The feed goes on. Advertising and no advertising. Straight news articles, and Public Relations pieces with positive spins on your company and its products. The bottom line? If you're going to have a website and write professional content, why not syndicate the news articles and greatly extend your reach and influence? It's really simple, and it doesn't cost that much.

Scott Frangos is a writer, designer, and eCommerce marketer with over 20 years experience in Advertising. He has taught eCommerce, HTML, and Business courses at the college level in Portland, Oregon, and currently is Managing Partner of WebFadds.com - http://www.webfadds.com

---

Google News Updated : Fri, 05 Sep 2008 02:05:17 GMT Boeing workers frustrated, angry at strike delay - Reuters The Gazette (Montreal) Boeing workers frustrated, angry at strike delay Reuters - 1 hour ago By Laura Myers EVERETT, Washington (Reuters) - Less than a day after voting to strike, Boeing workers expressed frustration and anger on Thursday at the decision by union leaders to postpone a walkout and negotiate further with the company. Boeing, Machinists Return to Talks to Avert Strike (Update1) Bloomberg SPEEA Supports IAM 751 Efforts to Secure a New Contract from Boeing MarketWatch The Associated Press - Bizjournals.com - International Herald Tribune - Motley Fool all 1,304 news articles Publ.Date : Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:30:58 GMT Deaths Heighten Arthritis Drugs Warning - WebMD WNCT Deaths Heighten Arthritis Drugs Warning WebMD - 2 hours ago By Miranda Hitti Sept. 4, 2008 -- The FDA today ordered stronger warnings about the risk of potentially deadly fungal infections, especially one called histoplasmosis, in people taking the drugs Cimzia, Enbrel, Humira, and Remicade, which are called ... FDA Demands Tougher Warnings on Immunosuppressive Drugs U.S. News & World Report FDA orders stronger warnings for 4 arthritis drugs The Associated Press Reuters - Bloomberg - USA Today - TheStreet.com all 466 news articles Publ.Date : Thu, 04 Sep 2008 23:30:49 GMT Evacuations Are Advised as Storm Nears the Southeast - New York Times ABC News Evacuations Are Advised as Storm Nears the Southeast New York Times - 45 minutes ago By ROBBIE BROWN ATLANTA - As Tropical Storm Hanna surged toward the Atlantic Coast on Thursday, the authorities declared states of emergency in Virginia and North Carolina and recommended evacuation from some coastal regions of South Carolina. Hanna May Reach Hurricane Force; Ike Looms Out at Sea (Update4) Bloomberg Southeast braces for Hanna as Ike strengthens The Associated Press WSAV-TV - Philadelphia Inquirer - Beaufort Gazette - International Herald Tribune all 1,943 news articles Publ.Date : Fri, 05 Sep 2008 01:19:19 GMT Autism and measles vaccine: no link found -- again - Los Angeles Times Autism and measles vaccine: no link found -- again Los Angeles Times - 6 hours ago Suspicion that autism is triggered by childhood vaccinations -- notably the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine -- lingers on, even though studies repeatedly fail to find such a link. Study Finds No Autism Link in Vaccine Washington Post Health Buzz: MMR Vaccine and Autism, and Other Health News U.S. News & World Report CNN - Reuters - WebMD - ABC News all 265 news articles Publ.Date : Thu, 04 Sep 2008 19:25:11 GMT Syria details its stance on peace talks - Ha'aretz Daily Star - Lebanon Syria details its stance on peace talks Ha'aretz - 2 hours ago By Yoav Stern and Barak Ravid Syrian President Bashar Assad revealed details on the peace process with Israel yesterday, presenting Turkey with a document of principles, one of whose points discusses the desired extent of the withdrawal from the Golan ... Video: Sarkozy in Syria : the press is divided france24english Syria: Israeli Peace Talks Postponed New York Times Voice of America - Al-Ahram Weekly - Forward - Ha'aretz all 984 news articles Publ.Date : Thu, 04 Sep 2008 23:53:30 GMT Abramoff Sentenced to 4 Years in Prison for Corruption - Washington Post ABC News Abramoff Sentenced to 4 Years in Prison for Corruption Washington Post - 2 hours ago By Del Quentin Wilber and Carrie Johnson Jack Abramoff, the onetime powerhouse Republican lobbyist whose influence peddling led to one of the biggest public corruption investigations in recent history, was sentenced by a federal judge today to four ... US lobbyist is sentenced to 4 years in prison International Herald Tribune Abramoff sentenced to 4 years in prison Detroit Free Press New York Times - Los Angeles Times - The Associated Press - CNN all 676 news articles Publ.Date : Thu, 04 Sep 2008 23:47:01 GMT McCain Will Vow an End to Partisanship in Convention Speech - Washington Post Boston Globe McCain Will Vow an End to Partisanship in Convention Speech Washington Post - 1 hour ago By Chris Cillizza ST. PAUL, MINN. - Sen. John McCain will take the stage at the Xcel Center here in less than three hours to formally accept his party's presidential nomination and deliver an address that will kick-start a frenetic two-month general ... McCain will take GOP to task for losing its way CNN McCain to Declare ‘Change Is Coming’ in Acceptance Speech FOXNews The Associated Press - Wall Street Journal - Financial Times - The Canadian Press all 726 news articles Publ.Date : Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:06:30 GMT Clickbank Affiliate Make Money From Home

PARLOT::Ebooks, Scripts, Websites, and more...

Adsense websites

Make Money with Your Own Blog

Well, basically, setting up a blog means that you are... Read More

How Can RSS Feeds Help Your Online Business?

So who should I use RSS Feeds? How can it... Read More

24 Tips and Strategies on How Everyone Can Blog Right and Get Everybody to Read

By the end of 2004 blogs had established themselves as... Read More

6 Reasons Why RSS Beats Email Marketing

A brand new marketing tool predicted to replace email is... Read More

How to Make Money With Your Blog?

Make money blogging is fun: you enjoy blogging and getting... Read More

Find Out How Microsofts Plans Could Make Your Subscribers Beg You for RSS Content!

Microsoft recently announced that they will be releasing a new... Read More

Feed The Need: 5 Ways To Use RSS To Boost Your Business Or Organizational Success

RSS (it stands for Really Simple Syndication, among other things)... Read More

Should Affiliates Really Use Blogging and Pinging To Get Indexed?

There seems to be a huge craze lately with everyone... Read More

RSS & How to Use It -- Part 2

Welcome to part 2 of the article that aims to... Read More

Get Website Visitors From Blogs

Blogs are becoming more and more popular. The word "blog"... Read More

Top 7 Reasons Why Your Business Should Use RSS

In today's online world of high-speed websites and giant portals,... Read More

How Direct Sales Reps Can Use Blogging

One of the tools that a smart direct sales representative... Read More

RSS Can Keep You In The Loop

When webmasters first hear about RSS they tend to concentrate... Read More

Blogs for Kids

Flush out the writer in children. Blogging could draw out... Read More

7 Tips for Choosing the Right Blog Software for Your New Blog

Choosing the right blog software for your new blog requires... Read More

RSS Feeds Explosion

Gain Massive Exposure For Your ServiceGet your web site listed... Read More

How to Get Started Blogging in 5 Minutes or Less

I put off starting a blog for a long time... Read More

Top 9 Reasons Companies Should Blog

Below are the top 9 reasons why companies should blog.1.... Read More

Blogging Dollars in 7 Hours or Less

Need to make money fast, but you don't want to... Read More

What Is This RSS, XML, RDF, and Atom Business?

It's been a long day at work and you're... Read More

Blogging Advice - Give Your Readers What They Want

Web gives a lot of exposure; weblog stabilizes the exposure... Read More

Article Marketing For Bloggers - 4 Tips To Build Traffic For Your Blog

Bloggers blog. That's what they do. A blog is short... Read More

How to Use Blog Exchanges

Traffic exchanges and blog traffic exchanges are a way to... Read More

3 Reasons To Publish An E-Newsletter AND A Blog

With spam filters on high alert, delivering a newsletter by... Read More

Using Feedburner to Add Statistics to Your RSS Feed

Out of many of the free RSS and blogging services... Read More